Left Behind
by Aussiesrule34
Summary: Trucy's afraid of one thing.. of being left behind. But she'll never have to be alone again... Phoenix Wright is her daddy, after all.


**Left Behind**

…She hated being the last one on the playground. Sometimes, when she was absorbed in what she was doing, the little girl would miss hearing the bell and would remain on the swings until she caught sight of the other kids trailing in the door and ran to catch up, afraid of being left behind.

When her mother disappeared, the young girl told herself that it wouldn't be long before Mommy was home again. Wouldn't she miss them, her little daughter and her husband? Mommy would come back…soon… it hurt her inside when she caught the sad, terribly sad expression on Daddy's face. He had been left behind, too.

Once, she had been left alone when her friend started out for a birthday-party without her. Trucy had waited at the meeting spot for hours, but the other girl never showed up. She cried in secret the next day when she heard that her friend had already left by the time Trucy went to meet her, leaving her all alone.

She was a precocious child, and had learned early that nothing was to be feared if she could only hold one of Daddy's big hands- hold on tight to him. Sometimes she asked him about the thunder, "Thunder is kind of a magic, isn't it, Daddy?" Sometimes when she had bad dreams, she would think of how Mommy used to sing her to sleep- her beautiful voice lilting over simple tunes.

There was nothing for her to be afraid of, but of one thing she was terribly afraid….

Being left behind.

She was eight years old at the time. "Daddy, my first show is tonight! I can't wait! I'm going to introduce Mr. Hat first and…" but her childish chatter fell on preoccupied ears. Daddy had seemed very unresponsive that day. He went through the motions, but something was missing. Trucy knew why when he told her that he was going away.

….And that he was coming back.

"_I shall return…"_

Everything in her small self screamed, "Don't leave me, Daddy! Don't leave me behind!"

But she thought of her beautiful mother, and she thought of her Daddy's face when he told her that Mommy had vanished.

_Maybe he'll find Mommy, and bring her back._

So she smiled. He had promised, after all… he wasn't leaving her… only for a little bit…

"_I shall return…"_

But nights and nights after that, her pillow was wet with tears.

Her greatest fear had come true… her bad dream was suddenly real.

She had been left behind…

_But not all alone._

In time, he became her new Daddy.

Phoenix didn't do any magic.

And he promised, too, that he would never leave her behind.

She knew, somehow, that he was telling the truth. Or maybe she only made herself believe it, because she had to, because her heart couldn't take any more. She needed _someone_, someone to stay with her.

One day, just after a court case of Apollo's had been wrapped up and Phoenix was finishing up some business, Trucy and Apollo headed back to the office. Trucy bounced in the door, turned on the TV, and plopped ungracefully down on the couch. "Come watch with me, Polly!" she called before gluing her eyes to the screen. Apollo mumbled something about, "Nothing decent on TV these days," before he occupied himself cleaning up his desk.

The next time Trucy looked up, she noticed Apollo tossing his journal and several court files into his briefcase. Wondering why he was taking so much stuff home, Trucy also noticed that he had cleared off his desk and put the clutter into cardboard boxes which now littered the floor around him.

It stuck uneasily in her mind…

"Ok, I'm leaving." Apollo announced as he stood up and slipped on his coat. He crammed his briefcase shut and tried to balance it on top of a stack of boxes he was carrying. "Tell Mr. Wright bye for me, will ya?" Apollo said, sticking his face around the stack. It looked as if it would topple over at any second.

The young attorney cautiously edged his way towards the door, glancing around the boxes at Trucy as he went. Catching sight of her face made him stop in his tracks and slowly lower the boxes to the ground, thankfully without any mishaps. "Trucy? What's…? What's wrong?"

"P-Polly? You- You aren't leaving us?" Tears in her eyes, Trucy ran to him and grasped his arm tightly, as if to prevent him from going. "You- you aren't- you can't!"

Apollo looked confused. "Um, Trucy… I always go home at night."

Her face became a little more hopeful.

"But… your briefcase… you cleaned off your desk, and you're taking all your stuff…Polly… you're coming back?" Her voice rose higher as she spoke, growing almost hysterical. He had never seen her so emotional… looking at the tears on her face, and the way she was gripping his arm, Apollo suddenly realized how terribly afraid she was of him leaving.

His voice gentle, he said,  
"Oh, Trucy… I didn't mean to scare you! Really, I was just throwing out some of my junk… Of course I'm coming back!" One hand awkwardly ruffled her hair.

Trucy sniffled and peered up at him, something like a smile growing on her face.

Apollo felt his eyes growing watery as he realized how much he had scared her. She, of all people, had a right to cling to those she was close to…

"Trucy… I'm so sorry… I'll tell you next time I plan to clean up around here."

"It's okay, Apollo. Don't worry about me."

But he could still see the fear in her eyes.

He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly, somewhat unaccustomed to such displays of affection, but knowing that Trucy needed it just then.

"You know I wouldn't just leave you like that."

It had been an unusually stormy day, and Trucy had been watching out the windows for some time. She had been hoping and praying that the snow would let up soon, so that they could all make it to Lamiroir's concert-Daddy, Apollo and her. It was a special treat Daddy had promised them, for helping out around the office, he said.

Finally, Apollo and Phoenix walked in with the tickets, wrapped warmly in coats and scarves. Phoenix plopped the tickets down on the counter and called, "Trucy! Better get ready to go!" Trucy took a look at the tickets before dashing up the stairs. "Be right there!" She shouted over her shoulder.

Trucy vaguely remembered hearing Apollo call up the stairs, "Hurry up, Trucy, or we'll be late!" But she had been absorbed in fixing her cape just right, tugging on her boots, and worrying over which hat to wear. Sure, the spares looked just the same, but…

Wrapping up in a warm coat, Trucy glanced in the mirror and dashed downstairs, expecting to be greeted by Phoenix and Apollo's chatter. "I'm ready!" she shouted. No response greeted her. The young magician checked the counter where the tickets had been- but they were gone. A secret fear grabbed Trucy's heart. "It couldn't be," she murmured, but the thought pierced her heart just the same.

Brown hair flying, cape fluttering, she checked to be sure the men were not in the house. Finding no one, she opened the door to check outside. _That's it. They must be outside; keeping the taxi ._

But… there was no one outside. There wasn't even a taxi…

Trucy stood and peered through the thick snow, telling herself that there was some mistake, and wondering beneath it all how the two people she loved best in all the world could leave her behind.

The tears had started to freeze on her eyelashes when she heard a muffled "thump" behind her.

"Huh?" Trucy turned around and found herself face-to-face with Phoenix and Apollo. "Oh! You're here!" She exclaimed, feeling a smile quickly spread over her face. "Where else would we be?" Apollo asked, shivering and crossing his arms in an attempt to stay warm. "Took you long enough. We were just having a long overdue talk with the neighbors."

"They shouldn't be complaining about us anymore." Phoenix cut in.

A warm, happy feeling spread all over Trucy, unhindered by the frigid air. She grabbed her Daddy's arm on one side and Apollo's arm on the other and pulled the three of them close together. The warm feeling spread as she looked up at each of them. What was it that had made her think either one would ever leave her behind?

_Only a nightmare that still clung to her would make her afraid, an old memory that still whispered doubts in her ear…_

In her heart, she knew they would never think of such a thing.

Huddled close to Trucy and Phoenix for warmth, Apollo asked through chattering teeth, "W-where's that d-darn taxi?" Trucy looked up, smiling, through the snowflakes. "Daddy? You _did _remember to call a cab, right?"


End file.
